The system will initially be available in Belgium, France and Austria, with Romania set to follow ‘shortly’. Other markets, including Hungary, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will be added by the end of 2025, Arval has announced. Expansion is set to continue in 2026.The idea behind this is that, with more than 310,000 electric cars in its leasing portfolio, Arval wants to offer its customers the best possible charging experience – simple, reliable and across national borders. Many of the electric cars have an integrated route planner with charging stops, but not every model does. Some are equipped with a conventional navigation system without charging stop planning, while others have no navigation system at all – for drivers with no experience of electric cars, this means extra effort and uncertainty when travelling long distances in an electric company car. To address this, the browser-based Chargetrip route planner is embedded in ‘My Arval’ – without requiring a great deal of development effort, as both partners emphasise.The system itself is similar to well-known tools such as ‘A Better Routeplanner’: First, users must select their vehicle so that the software knows factors such as battery size, consumption and the vehicle’s charging behaviour. After entering the start and end points of the route, users must manually enter additional data: the charge level at the start, the desired charge level at the destination, the number of people on board, the use of air conditioning and any additional weight. Chargetrip then calculates the route using real-time data such as weather, inclines/declines along the route and the availability of charging points.We were unable to try out the Arval integration in advance, but we did try out the freely accessible version of Chargetrip Go. However, this version does not allow users to filter by desired charging networks, for example, only by charging power and connections, but not by their number. “With our new Route Planner, drivers can plan smarter, charge efficiently, and stay connected to Arval’s preferred networks, delivering a seamless EV experience that drives real change,” said Ingrid Pautrat, Director of EV Offers at Arval. This suggests that the roaming networks accessible via Arval are stored here.The route calculated in the browser portal can then be sent to a smartphone via a button or shared in other ways via the ‘Share’ button. The route guidance itself must then be carried out again via familiar apps such as Google Maps or Apple Maps. These apps only provide route guidance with real-time traffic data for the intermediate destinations – users then have to check Chargetrip again to find out how long they need to recharge and at what charge level. At least it shows whether the charging locations are also suitable for trucks; in one route we calculated, for example, access with N1 vehicles was indicated.However, as a browser-based solution, the system naturally lacks real-time battery data from the vehicle. If consumption is higher than calculated, for example, the route planning does not take this into account. Or if the driver is more efficient on the road, the charging stop is not postponed to a later time. The system, therefore, helps with planning, but is unlikely to match the range of functions offered by vehicle-integrated systems.“Arval’s leadership in fleet electrification perfectly aligns with our mission to make energy-aware routing accessible to every driver in Europe,” said Gideon van Dijk, CEO of Chargetrip.
Automobile Magazine-UK
